Primary and Secondary Sources

Whāinga ako: Lesson Goals

To identify primary and secondary sources 

Primary Source | Puna Mātāmua

A primary source is anything that was created at the time of the event/time period that is being studied, or made afterwards by someone who was there.

Examples include:

Secondary Source | Puna Mātārua

Secondary sources are usually created by people who have analysed primary sources. They might be historians or people who are passionate about an event/era. To be reliable it would ideally be created by someone who has specialised skills or knowledge in that area.

Examples include:

Use of Primary & Secondary Sources

Both can be really useful for research provided we check the reliability- for example: letters written by a child might exaggerate or not be able to communicate what is happening in a clear way. This doesn't make it a useless source, but we have to be aware of these sorts of influences on the what we are reading.